1. The Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to exercise equipment, and more particularly, but not necessarily entirely, to exercise equipment that may be incorporated into, or used in conjunction with, articles of furniture and other structures.
2. Description of Related Art
With the increased attention given to health awareness, the proliferation of exercise equipment has expanded to both residential and office settings. One popular type of exercise equipment is an exercise treadmill, or treadmill. A treadmill typically comprises an endless belt trained around a pair of rollers that allows a person to walk or jog while remaining in the same position. An electric motor of variable speed may be utilized to move the belt around the rollers. An electronic console may be used with the treadmill to provide information about a workout and to monitor a status of a user while exercising. For example, the electronic console may provide, among other things, information on pre-programmed exercise routines, the time spent exercising, the number of calories burned, the heart rate information, as well as the distance traveled.
One drawback to the use of previously available exercise equipment is the difficulty in storing the exercise equipment when not in use. In particular, exercise equipment tends to have a relatively large footprint, especially for the confined spaces of some homes and offices. Further, as exercise equipment is typically used for only a short duration in any given day, the relatively large area needed to store the equipment may not be justified in the eyes of some consumers.
Some attempts have been made in the past in an attempt to limit the storage space required for exercise equipment. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,648 (granted Sep. 26, 2000 to Stevens) discloses a treadmill having a deck that may be stored in a vertical orientation. U.S. Pat. No. 6,830,540 (granted Dec. 14, 2004 to Watterson et al.) discloses a treadmill having deck whose front and rear portions can be folded together to thereby decrease the overall length of the treadmill. U.S. Pat. No. 6,808,475 (granted Oct. 26, 2004 to Kehrbaum) discloses a computer workstation with a treadmill. U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,516 (granted May 1, 2001) discloses an article of furniture with a treadmill exercising device. U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,947 (granted Sep. 29, 1998) discloses an exercise apparatus with a desk that enables a user to exercise on an exercise device while carrying out unrelated activities. U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,833 (granted Apr. 28, 1998) discloses a treadmill that is storable in a cabinet enclosure.
While the above disclosed devices have, in some instances, made improvements towards reducing the storage space required for exercise devices, improvements are still being sought. For example, many of the devices that combine an exercise apparatus with a common article of furniture lack features typically found on a stand-alone version of the same exercise apparatus, such as electronic consoles and ergonomic handles. It would be a further improvement to the state of the art provide a combined article of furniture and exercise apparatus where the components necessary for use of the exercise apparatus do not interfere with the normal use of the article of furniture when the exercise apparatus is not in use. It would be a further improvement to the state of the art to provide a treadmill with an improved folding mechanism for the treadmill deck.
The prior art is thus characterized by several disadvantages that are addressed by the present disclosure. The present disclosure minimizes, and in some aspects eliminates, the above-mentioned failures, and other problems, by utilizing the methods and structural features described herein.
The features and advantages of the disclosure will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the disclosure without undue experimentation. The features and advantages of the disclosure may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.